China willing to work with Japan, ROK on initiatives

China is willing to link its Belt and Road Initiative with the trade and investment blueprints of Japan and the Republic of Korea, said Cao Wenlian, director general of International Cooperation Center of China's National Development and Reform Commission. Cao spoke in Tokyo on Monday.

China is ready to work with the two Asian neighbors on a strategy that is in the interest of all three, Cao said. He was attending the first forum on industrial capacity cooperation between the three.

Officials and businesspeople from China, Japan and South Korea agreed that East Asia needs to cooperate beyond the region. With mutually complementary economies, the three contribute 70 percent of Asia's gross domestic product and 36 percent of the world's GDP.